


Crushes

by lynxofspace



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26918929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynxofspace/pseuds/lynxofspace
Summary: Reggie finds a song Luke wrote about him back in the day
Relationships: Luke Patterson/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 345





	Crushes

Reggie and Alex had told Luke the other day that he had a crush on Julie, which to be fair, was true. Luke’s comeback had been that he had chemistry with everybody that he sang with, which was also true. Because the truth was, he only ever sang with Julie and Reggie and he had a crush on both of them. 

His crush on Julie was new and fresh, the kind you felt in your stomach everytime you were near them. The one on Reggie, on the other hand, went back as long as he could remember. He had that one under control, or at least he thought he did. Reggie would never feel the same way so the only thing he could do was move on. 

He had had a crush on Alex at one point too. Some people are just easily attracted to other people. Luke hadn’t had much luck with his crushes in the past, and now that he finally found one that actually liked him back, he was dead. It wasn’t necessarily a dealbreaker in this case, as Julie could still see him, but it wasn’t ideal either. 

Part of the point of having a partner is having someone by your side, someone you can take to family dinners, go out on dates with, eventually start a family with. Julie might as well take an imaginary friend, it would be the same to most people. Luke knew that, he did, he just hated it.

If he could go back, he would change so many things, but wishing things were different didn’t do him much good now. Had he not died in 1995, he would be 42 years old right now. He could have had an amazing life, or be dead in a ditch somewhere. There was no way to know. Maybe being a ghost in a rock band wasn’t the worst thing. His very confusing feelings aside, he loved what he had right now.

“I gotta go, I have a thing with Willie,” Alex said, snapping Luke out of his thoughts. 

“A thing?” Luke asked. “Have you still not talked to him?” It was a date, everybody knew it. Luke knew it, Reggie knew it, he was pretty sure Alex and Willie knew it too. Why not just use the word?

“I don’t wanna pressure him,” Alex said. “Besides, I have all the time in the world, I don’t mind taking things slow.” 

“Slugs move faster than you two,” Reggie joked.

Luke loved Reggie’s dorky sense of humor, though he wouldn’t admit it. He also loved him in that shirt he was wearing. Great, this was exactly the kind of thoughts he didn’t want to have. 

“Funny,” Alex said in a less than amused voice. 

“Tell him we said hi,” Luke said. 

Alex poofed out of the room. 

“So what do you wanna do until Julie gets home?” Luke asked Reggie. 

“I still haven’t found my Nirvana t-shirt, I’ve looked everywhere. Wanna help?” Reggie asked. 

The Nirvana t-shirt had been Reggie’s lucky shirt. He often wore it the day before their performances, it was his only superstitious quirk. He had lent it to Luke on multiple occasions. “Maybe it’s in one of my bags.”

“Let’s find out.”

Luke hadn’t gone through all of his bags yet. It felt weird. His whole life, in bags. He supposed he should be thankful that Julie’s family kept them. Who keeps random bags around for that long?

“What’s this?” Reggie asked, holding up a little green notebook. 

Luke didn’t immediately recognize the book, so he gave Reggie permission to look through it. He watched as Reggie flipped through the pages. 

“I think they’re lyrics,” Reggie said. “Hey, this one has my name on it.”

Luke walked over to look at the book. He remembered as soon as he saw the words. His face went red. He was glad Reggie couldn’t see. “That’s really old.”

“You wrote me a song?”

Before Luke could answer, he heard the door open and Julie walked in. “Hi guys,” she said. 

“Hey,” Luke said absently, still thinking about the song. He had completely forgotten about it. 

“Julie, look, we found this old song Luke wrote about me,” Reggie ran over to her and excitedly showed her the book.

“When I just need to get away  
You are my safest space  
Shelter from the pouring rain  
Safer in your embrace  
No need to hide the pain”

“Wow,” she said. 

“Yeah, I know, it’s really bad,” Luke tried to lighten the mood, he didn’t like feeling exposed like that. “In my defence, I was 12. It was the first song I ever wrote.”  
“I was gonna say romantic,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said, barely a whisper. All he wanted was to be somewhere else, anywhere else. “So, Julie, how was school?” He tried to change the topic. 

“You’re not gonna tell us why you wrote Reggie a love song when you were 12?” she said, emphasizing the first half of the sentence. 

“You don’t have to explain, man,” Reggie interjected.

“He was just there for me during a rough time, and I get crushes very easily.” He knew he could probably explain it away, make it seem less romantic than it was, but the cat was out of the bag, and at least it was only his 12 year-old self he was outing. 

“I had no idea,” Reggie said. 

“You weren’t supposed to,” Luke said and once again tried to change the topic. This time they let him. They should probably have a longer conversation about this at some point, but now was not the time. 

Julie filled the boys in on the day’s school drama, and they were working on a setlist for their upcoming gig when Ray called Julie in for dinner, leaving Luke alone with Reggie. 

Reggie got up from the couch they were seated at and walked over to the pile of bags on the floor, picking them up and bringing them with him to the couch. He opened one and put the contents on the table. 

“You’re not gonna find any more love songs in there,” Luke joked. Though honestly, he couldn’t guarantee that. 

Reggie pouted, getting a laugh out of Luke. “I’m still looking for my shirt,” he said. 

“Right.” Luke grabbed another bag and poured the contents out on the table.

The table was a mountain of clothes and other random objects when Alex poofed back in. “What’s going on here?” He asked while looking around the room. 

“We’re looking for Reggie’s Nirvana shirt, but it’s not here,” Luke said, exasperated.

“This one?” Alex asked and opened his jacket. “I thought I’d need it today.”

“Oh yeah, how did your date go?” Reggie asked.

“Good, we had the talk. We’re officially boyfriends.” Alex grinned.   
“I’m happy for you, Alex,” Luke said. 

“See? The shirt totally works,” Reggie said, smiling.

“What have you two been up to?”

“We pretty much spent all day looking for the shirt you’re wearing,” Reggie joked.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. We actually found an old book I wrote some lyrics in when I was a kid. There was even a love song about Reggie in there.” Luke knew there was no point in not looping Alex in on the events of the day.

“That _you_ wrote? About Reggie?” The confusion on Alex’s face was obvious.

“Jealous?” Reggie asked jokingly.

“Confused.”

“I get crushes on everybody, it’s not that big of a deal,” Luke said. 

“Yeah, but Reggie?” 

“Reggie, you, half the girls at school.” Luke tried to keep his tone matter-of-factly. “Does it really matter?”

“I’m starting to feel less special.” Reggie pouted and crossed his arms.

Luke laughed. There was that dorky humor again. Why did this crush have to be the one that stuck? 

“Why do you care? You don’t even like boys, at least he had a chance with me,” Alex joked. 

“You think I would have turned Luke down?” Reggie said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Luke asked.

“Dude, you’re hot,” Reggie said, then added “Julie is lucky.”

There it was again. Hot. Reggie had called him hot when he sang “Edge of Great” to him to prove his chemistry too. Was he not supposed to read into that? “You’re not so bad yourself, Reg.”

“How am I the gay one?” Alex joked. 

The topic was abandoned once again when Julie returned from eating dinner with her family to rehearse with the band, though Luke couldn’t stop thinking about it. Did he actually have a chance with Reggie or were they just messing around? Did he want a relationship with Reggie? He had spent such a long time telling himself it was never going to happen. Maybe he liked the idea of it more than the reality. He looked over at Reggie practically dancing with his bass and knew that wasn’t the case.

Then there was Julie. He really liked Julie, and Julie liked him, he was pretty sure. Yet there was the looming reality that even if they were good together, it couldn’t last. It couldn’t even really be, not to anyone but them. That was enough for Luke, but he wanted more for Julie.

If he had to choose between the two, if they were all alive, it would be a hard choice. That’s what he told himself, though deep down he knew he could never say no to Reggie. It didn’t matter, the choice was made for him. Which again didn’t matter because he wasn’t sure how Reggie even felt about him.

_______________

The two of them didn’t get a chance to speak in private for a couple of days, the band was practicing 24/7 for their upcoming gig. When they eventually did have some time to themselves, though, it was Reggie who initiated the conversation. “You can’t just tell me I’m hot and not expect me to feel things,” he blurted out of nowhere. 

Taken aback, Luke countered with “you called me hot first, twice.” That wasn’t the way he had planned the conversation. Not that he even had a plan. “Besides, I’m pretty sure the words I used were ‘not so bad’”

“You also said you had a crush on me once. And now I can’t stop thinking about it.” Reggie was pacing.

“You found the song. Was I supposed to lie? I’m sor-”

Reggie didn’t let him finish the sentence, he grabbed Luke’s face and kissed him softly. The circumstances of the kiss were unlike any Luke had ever pictured, but the feeling was exactly like he had dreamed. 

Reggie let him go and took a step back. “I’m sorry,” he said. 

“Don’t be.” He dragged Reggie in and kissed him, deeper this time, not letting him go until they were both out of breath.

“That was..” Reggie started in-between breaths. 

“Yeah.” Luke didn’t know how to describe it, but he did know he wanted to keep doing it, and he was pretty sure Reggie felt the same way. 

“Another point to the shirt.” Reggie smiled and lifted his red flannel shirt to reveal his Nirvana t-shirt underneath.

Luke sighed. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You’re right, I’ve had a crush on you since we were 12.”

He saw the realization dawn on Reggie. Since. Not just a boy crush, but 5 years. “I’m sorry I couldn’t see it,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. 

Luke didn’t know how things would be different if he had known, but he didn’t want to dwell on it. “It doesn’t matter now.”

Reggie thought about it. “I suppose we do have an eternity,” he said. “Enough time for you to write me a better song.”

Luke rolled his eyes. He appreciated Reggie’s ability to lighten weighty moments. “Or _you_ could write _me_ a song.”

“I’m already thinking about lyrics.”

Luke smiled and kissed him again, this time pushing him onto the couch and jumping on top of him. “It better not be a country song.”


End file.
